Look at other dictionaries:

Benefit of Clergy — • The exemption from the jurisdiction of the secular courts, which in England, in the Middle Ages, was accorded to clergymen Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Benefit of Clergy Benefit of Clergy … Catholic encyclopedia

Benefit of clergy — In English law, the benefit of clergy (Law Latin Privilegium clericale) was originally a provision by which clergymen could claim that they were outside the jurisdiction of the secular courts and be tried instead in an ecclesiastical court under… … Wikipedia

benefit of clergy — 1. the rites or sanctions of a church. 2. formal marriage: living together without benefit of clergy. 3. the privilege claimed by church authorities to try and punish, by an ecclesiastical court, any member of the clergy accused of a serious… … Universalium

Benefit of Clergy Act 1575 — The Benefit of Clergy Act 1575 (18 Eliz. I c.7), full title An Act to take away clergy from the offenders in rape and burglary, and an order for the delivery of clerks convict without purgation , was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of… … Wikipedia

clergy, benefit of — ▪ law formerly a useful device for avoiding the death penalty in English and American criminal law. In England, in the late 12th century, the church succeeded in compelling Henry II and the royal courts to grant every clericus, or “clerk”… … Universalium